Dr Leonardo De Pascalis PhD

Research Overview

My main research themes focus on the study of the characteristics of infant social development in the first 2 years of life and which factors may exert influence on it.
This study takes place primarily in the context of investigating early relationships and interactions between children and their caregivers.
The importance of these relationships is also studied in terms of their role in safeguarding mental health and in the possible development of psychopathology, in the child and in the caregiver, in later stages of the child's life as well.
A further line of research focuses on verifying the effectiveness of forms of parenting support, with the aim of promoting infant development and the mental health of children and caregivers.
Finally, great attention is now dedicated to the study and application of shared book-sharing, as a tool of easy applicability but great potential, to support the child linguistic and psycho-emotional development.